PHILADELPHIA — The LSU track and field teams earned a number of “American Championships” on Friday as the second-ranked Lady Tigers and the sixth-ranked Tigers turned in an array of breathtaking performances in the 109th running of the prestigious Penn Relays here in Philadelphia.
“There’s no question that we had a great day today,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “I mean, we’ve never come in here and won four relays in one day before. That is big time. Plus, we’re winning individual events and when you’re doing those kinds of things, it’s going to be good. We will also be in very good shape with the people that qualified for tomorrow as well. It’s really been a great meet so far.”
The LSU men’s track and field team registered a first-place finish in the distance medley relay competition on Friday, while the Lady Tiger squad garnered Penn Relay titles in the 4×100 relay, the shuttle hurdle relay, the sprint medley relay and the triple jump competition. The LSU women’s track and field team is the defending indoor national champions, while the Tigers are the defending outdoor national champions.
LSU’s 4×100 relay team comprised of Stephanie Durst, Monique Hall, Lolo Jones and Muna Lee set a Penn Relay record on Friday as the Lady Tigers’ quartet posted a first-place winning time of 42.73 in the event. Auburn’s relay squad finished second with a time of 43.57.
The Lady Tigers’ mark shattered the previous record-holding time of 43.33 set by Texas in 1999. LSU’s foursome currently owns the world-leading time in the 4×100 relay competition after posting a mark of 42.63 at the Texas Relays earlier this season. Friday’s 42.73 finish is the third-best time in NCAA track and field history.
With the victory in the 4×100 relay competition, the Lady Tigers extended their streak of first-place finishes to 13-consecutive seasons. LSU has posted at least one win in a relay event at the Penn Relays since the 1991 campaign.
“This was a great feeling because they didn’t expect us to win,” said LSU’s Durst, who ran the opening leg of the 4×100 relay. “It also felt good because the stands were kind of crowded, so it got me worked up, but I’m still surprised that we ran a 42.63 under these conditions.”
On the men’s side of Friday’s competition, LSU’s relay team comprised of Ben Shumaker, Marlon Greensword, Jeff Fisher and Jamison Carter earned the Penn Relay title in the distance medley event by edging Loyola’s foursome in a thrilling finish at the venerable Franklin Field.
“The environment of the Penn Relays had a lot to do with everything that we achieved today,” Henry said. “It’s a great track environment and tomorrow will even be better. They had something like 30,000 people in there today on a Friday and that was a good day. Tomorrow will really be something special and the stadium will be full.”
LSU’s Carter was slightly trailing in the race heading into the home stretch before the Tigers’ junior turned on the jets to earn an exhilarating come-from-behind win by posting a final time of 9:56.58. Loyola finished the competition a mere five one-hundredths of a second behind the pace at 9:56.63.
The Lady Tigers’ second first-place title of the famed Penn Relays came in the shuttle hurdle relay competition on Friday.
By posting a time of 53:04 in the event, LSU’s team of RaNysha LeBlanc, Tiffany Robinson, Zamyal Jackson and Lolo Jones finished first in the race and posted the second-fastest time in Penn Relay history. The mark is also the second-fastest time in LSU history after the Lady Tigers’ relay team comprised of Donalda Duprey, Mary Cobb, Dawn Boyles and Cinnamon Sheffield recorded a world-record time of 53.0 in 1991.
“All in all, you can’t ask for any more than what we did on the ladies’ side today,” said Henry. “It was a tremendous day for us. We had a meet record in the 4×100, the hurdle race was the second fastest that we’ve ever run and it’s actually the fastest, because the last one was hand timed and it was actually a world record at the time. It was definitely a nice day for us.”
LSU’s All-American, Nicole Toney, posted her best mark of the outdoor season in the triple jump competition on Friday, as the Lady Tigers’ junior from West Hartford, Conn., reached a mark of 44-4 to earn a first-place finish in the event. With the win, Toney registered her fourth-consecutive top-five finish as well as her third top-three finish of the spring.
The final women’s race of the evening also proved to be beneficial for LSU, as the Lady Tigers’ sprint medley relay team earned a first-place finish by posting a time of 3:44.68. The quartet, comprised of Durst, Nadia Davy, Hazelann Regis and Neisha Bernard-Thomas, posted its fastest time of the outdoor season after finishing second with a mark of 3:45.65 at the Texas Relays.
In the men’s long jump competition, LSU placed three athletes in the top six.
Junior John Moffitt led the Tigers with a third-place finish, while Lejuan Simon ended the competition in fourth place and Traun Smith leaped a distance of 24-6 1/2 to finish in the sixth position. Moffitt’s longest mark on Friday was 25-0 and Simon ended with a distance of 24-9 1/4. TCU’s Aundre Edwards won the competition with a mark of 26-2 3/4.
The college portion of the 109th-annual Penn Relay Carnival will resume on Saturday at 8:05 a.m. (CDT) with the men’s 400-meter hurdles championship here in Philadelphia, Pa.